From the time he made his debut for East Perth in 1958, Malcolm Atwell had a reputation as one of the toughest defenders on the Western Australian football scene. A hard hitting player, Atwell, was much more than merely a tough man. He had good pace for his size, and was equally effective, and often used, by not only his club but his State, as a ruckrover, mainly because of his determined and highly competitive attitude. Malcolm Atwell made his debut with the dominant East Perth of the late fifties. With the flexibilty to play anywhere on the ground, he soon found a niche in the backline, and became a reliable candidate to “stop” the big name forwards that abounded at that time. In June, 1960, he debuted for Western Australia, lining up alongside fellow Royal, John Watts, against Victoria at Subiaco Oval. He was at full back for Western Australia in July of the following year, when WA faced off against Tasmania in the opening game of the 1961 Carnival in Brisbane, and was also custodian for the clash with Victoria in the last one, his efforts that day having a huge bearing on the Sandgropers win. In many quarters he was regarded as our best player. Atwell's performances in that carnival impressed the Victorians, and they respected him as much as they did any other interstate player at the time, because of  his “hard at it” approach to the game.  When appointed playing coach of Perth in 1966, Atwell transposed his playing philosophy into his coaching manual. As a player his concentration on the “one percenters”, such as hard tackling, spoiling, shepherding, and putting the body on the line were the foundations of his game.   Perth were ripe for the Atwell moulding, having had a student of the game in Ern Henfry as immediate predecessor instill the skills into the playing group, and they immediately responded to the Atwell touch, winning three grand finals in a row. Ironically for Atwell, they were all against his old club, East Perth. Between 1960 and 1969, Malcolm Atwell was almost a permanent member of the State side, either in a playing capacity(sixteen games) or coaching(six games).   After having played 162 games with East Perth, 76 for Perth, and representing  the State on sixteen occasions, Atwell retired as a player in 1971, subsequently taking the reigns at South Fremantle in a non playing capacity in 1972 and 73.   Inducted into the Western Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002, he is also a member of East Perth's Official Team of the Century 1945 to 2005 side as a player, and was selected in Perth's Team of the Century as coach. Malcolm Atwell set the standards for toughness and competitiveness on the field, and his ability to bring those standards out in the players he coached stamped him as one of Western Australian football's stars of the past in both areas of the game.